Searchlight-positioning means



M. L. PATTERSON.

SEARCHLIGHT POSITIONING MEANS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE I9. I920.

l ,4 1 8,325 ente ne 6, 1922.

IIHI llIIIIII.I'IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII INVENTOR 46 MJAM #7 46 ATTORNE r UNITED v STATES PATENT 2 OFFICE.

MARTIN L. PATTERSON, OF-BOGOTA, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR To THE sPERRY GYRO- scor COMPANY, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION or NEW YORK.

SEARCHLIGHT-POSITIONING MEANS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed June 19, 1920. Serial No. 390,057.

To all whom it may concern: K

Be it known that I, MARTIN L. PATTER- soN, a 'citizen of the United States of America, residing at 86 Palisade Avenue, Bo ota, in the county of Bergen and State of ITew Jersey, have invented certalnnew and useful Improvements in Searchhght- Positioning Means, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for controlling the position of searchlights or other movable objects. The chief alm of my 1nvent-ion is to provide an efiicient combined mechanical and electrical control, so that the position of the searchlight may be controlled electrically from a distance or mechanically from a point more adjacent the light. Another object is the provision of a combined mechanical and electrical control involving a minimum number of parts, together with means for preventing the electrical control from interfering with the operation of the.

mechanical control.

A further object of my invention 18 to provide means for increasing the range of speeds at which the searchlight ca-n be driven from a single source of power without increasing the usual range of velocity of said source. Particularly when low speeds of the Searchlight are desired it is found in practice that the-velocity and torque of the power source must be decreased considerably and such decrease cannot be earned beyond a certain point without stopping the movement of the searchli 'ht. By the means which I have provide however, lower speeds of the searchlight than have heretofore been available can be obtained without unduly decreasing the torque or velocity of the source of power. Consequently, for a given range of speed of the source of power, the range of speed of the Searchlight can, by the means which I have provided, be considerably increased.

Referring to the drawings wherein I have shown what I now consider to be the preferred forms of my invention:

' Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic elevational view.

of a combined mechanical and electrical driving means in connection with a searchlight.

Fig. 2 is a side view of parts shown in Fig. 1, showing also certain electrical connections.

lVIotor adapted to be controlled from a distance and F 1g. 3 is a diagrammatic elevational View of another form of means for moving a I Searchlight.

Patented June 6, 1922.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of parts shown w in Fig. Fig. 5 1s a diagrammatic elevational view of a modified form of the means shown in Fig. 3.

At is shown a Searchlight provided with trunnions 2-2 and movable about the horizontal axis of said trunnions. While my invent on may equally well be utilized for moving the Searchlight about a vertical axis, I have for purposes of illustration shown it applied to the horizontal axis of the searchlight. One form which my combined electrical and mechanical control means may assume is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and may be"- constructed substantially as follows:

A pair of bevel gears 3 and 4 are shown carried by shafts 5 and 6, respectively, and

meshing with bevel gears 7 and 8 rotatably mounted in a member 9, the latter being rotatable with respect to shaft 5 and mounted thereon. Member 9 carries a gear 10 adapted to drive the Searchlight through the medium of gears 11, 12 and a segment gear 13, which latter may be carried by one of the trunnions 201? the Searchlight. A gear wheel 14 carried by shaft 6 is shown driven by a motor 15 throu h the medium of. a worm l6, wormwheel 1?, and gear 18. 15 may be of any suitable type is here shown as an electric motor. Shaft 5 carries a wormwheel 19 with which meshes a worm 20 adapted to be driven manually in any suitable manner. I have shown worm 20 mounted on a shaft 21 which may be driven by a shaft 22 having acrank handle 23. A clutch comprising a toothed member 24 rotatable with shaft 21, and a coopcrating toothed member 25 rotatable with and slldable on shaft 22 may be provided for rendering the manual control means operative or inoperative at will. For sliding member 25 on shaft 22 the usual operating lever 26 may be provided Crank handle 23 may be located adjacent the Searchlight, as shown, or shaft 2 may be extended to any desired distant point at which handle and clutch 24, 25 maybe located.

The pitch of the teeth of worms 16 and 20 is preferably such that said worms when stationary prevent rotation of their cooperating worm wheels. Thus, when motor 15 is energized and handle 23 inoperative, bevel gear 3 is prevented from rotation, and likewise, when worm 16 is stationary and worm 20 driven, rotation of gear 4 is prevented.

If desired, worm 20 may be driven by handle 23 at the same time that motor 15 is in operation and thus the speed at which the searchlight is driven rnay be varied without varying the speed of the motor. I prefer, however, to provide means for preventing the operation of motor 15 when worm 20 is being operated, so that worm 16 will remain stationary and hold ear 4 from rotating. For this purpose have shown a circult breaker comprising contacts 27 and 28 connected in the motor circuit and adapted to be operated to break the motor circuit when lever 26 is moved to bring clutch member 25 into engagement with member 24. Contact 27 is shown carried by lever 26 and is adapted to engage contact 28 when said lever is in a position wherein shafts 21 and 22 are disconnected, but is withdrawn from engagement with said contact when lever 26 is moved to connect said shafts 21 and 22 with each other. Motor 15 thus cannot be operated as long as clutch members 24 and 25 are in engagement, even though control switch 29 be closed. With this construction all interference of the motor control with the manual control is avoided and full response of the Searchlight to the manual control is insured.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have shown one form of means for obtaining an increased range of speeds from a single source of power. Parts in these figures corresponding with parts shown in Figs. 1 and 2 are designated by the same numerals with a prime added. Motor 15 is shown having two worms 16 and 129' meshing with wormwheels17 and 30, respectively. Wormwheel 17 is adapted to driveone gear wheel 4 of the differential train while Wormwheel 30 is adapted to drive gear Wheel 3of said train through the following means:

Shaft 31 to which Wormwheel 30 is secured carries a gear wheel 32 rotatable with respect to said shaft. Gear 32 meshes with a gear wheel 33 fixedly secured to shaft 5'. For causing gear 32 to rotate with shaft 3] and thereby rotate shaft 5 and gear 3', a clutch member 34, rotatable with and slidable on shaft 31, is adapted to be attracted by a magnetizing coil 35 into clutching engagement with gear 32. Hence, whenever coil 35 is energized, gear 32 will be caused to rotate with shaft 11. When coil 35 is deenergized, a spring 36 serves to retract member 34 from clutching engagement with said gear 32. Preferably, at the same time that gear 32 is unclutched from sha 31, a brake is applied to gear 33 tobring said gear to rest and prevent further rotation of gear 3'. To this end I have shown a lever 136 pivoted at 37.and carrying at one end a friction brake member 38. The other end of lever 136 is forked as shown at 40 and engages a groove in member 34 in a well known manner so that, when member 34 is withdrawn from clutching engagement with gear 32, lever 136 is swung to 'press friction brake member 38 against a friction surface 39 on gear 33. Of course member 38 may be any of a wide variety of braking or-rotation preventing members and is shown as a friction brake merely for purposes of illustration.

From the construction of Figs. 3 and 4 it will now be seen that, if gear 32 be clutched to shaft 31 so that both sides of the differential train are driven by motor 15, member 9 of the differential train will be driven at the same velocity as shafts 5 and 6'. The speed of the motor 15 may, of course, be varied by any well known or conventional means. If, now, coil 35-be deenergized, so that gear 32 is uncoupledfrom shaft 31 and gear 3 is prevented from rotating by brake 38, only one side of the differential train will be driven andmember 9 will be rotated at a fraction of the speed of rotation of shaft 6. Thus, lower speeds of the Searchlight can be obtained than could be if motor 15 were geared directly to the Searchlight and without unduly diminishing the torque and velocity of the motor. The range of speed at which the Searchlight can be 'driven from the motor is thus increased.

Fig. 5 shows one of the many possible variations of the driving means shown in Figs. 3 and 4. In this figure, motor 15" drives Wormwheel 17" and shaft 31 in. a'

manner similar to motor 15' of Figs. 3-and 4. Wormwheel 17 drives spur gear 4" through gears 18" and 14". is fixed to shaft 5 which also has secured thereto gear wheel 33 meshing with gear wheel 32' loosely mounted on shaft 31. A-

gear wheel 41 is loosely mounted on shaft 5 and carries rotatable pinions '7 and 8" which mesh with gear wheels 3 and 4". Said gear wheel 41 in turn drives the searchlight 1 through gears 11", 12", and 13". Gear wheel 32 teeth 42 adapted to engage correspondin teeth on clutch member 43 rotatable with shaft 31' and slidably mounted thereon. The other face of gear 32 may be provided with a friction face adapted to be engaged by brake member 44. A forked lever 45 pivoted at 46 engages members 43 and 44 at its forked end and is connected at its other end to the core of a solenoid 46 and to a spring 47. When solenoid 46 is energized, clutch 43 is caused to engage its teeth with teeth 42 of gear 32 and at the same time brake member 44 is moved out of engage- Spur gear 3" is provided on one face with ment with saidgear. When, on the other hand, said so1eno1d 46 is deenergized, clutch member 43 is withdrawn by spring .47 from engagement with gear 32' and brake member 44 is applied to bring said gear 32' to rest and hold it against further rotation. It will also be seen that, when both sides of the differential gear trains 3", 4", 7", 8" are driven by motor 15" one range of velocities of the Searchlight will be obtained, and that another range will be obtained when onl gear 4 is driven by said motor.

I hile I have shown; my.'invention as applied to a Searchlight, it will be understood that the invention 1s not limited thereto, but that it can be applied in general to any movable object. p

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have herein described the principle of operation of my invention, together with the apparatus, which I now consider to represent the best embodiment there of, but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means. Also, while it is designed to use the various features and elements in the combination and relations described, some of these may be altered and others omitted Without interfering with the more general results outlined, and the invention extends to such use.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The combination with a movable object, of electrical driving means, manual driving means, differential means connecting both of said driving means with said object,

means for placing the manual driving means into orout of action, and means controlled by the placing of the manual driving means into action for rendering said electrical driving means inoperative.

2. The combination with a movable object, of differential gearing connected therewith, driving means connected with one side of said differential gearing, driving means connected with the other side of said differential gearing, and means for simultaneously rendering one of said driving means operative and the other inoperative.

3. In combination, a Searchlight, differential gearing connected thereto for moving said Searchlight about an axis, driving means connected W1th one side of said differential gearing, driving means connected with the other side of said differential gearing, means for establishing or disestablishing a connection between one of said driving-means and said differential gearing, and means operated by the connecting of said driving means to said gearing for placing the other driving means out of action.

4. In combination, a Searchlight, difl'erential gearin connected thereto for moving said searchllght about an axis, driving means connected with one side of said differential gearing, driving means connected with the other side of said differential gearing, means for. placing one of said driving means into or out of action, and means operated by the placing in action of said driving means for placing the other driving means out of action.

In testimony whereof I have aflixed my signature.

MARTIN PATTERSON. 

